Like many scrappers, I LOVE ribbon. Since I love a lot of variety in my ribbon I only buy about 1 metre at a time… not to mention I’ve got a branch of the best ribbon store in the UK in my city—V.V.Rouleaux. I use an ordinary floss box and simply wind my ribbons around plastic floss cards, arranged by colour. Usually these types of boxes come with one compartment larger than all the rest, and I use this to put my ends that are just too small to put on cards. This method works really well because I can immediately see what I have, and I can easily store a lot of ribbon using this method.
I’ve seen quite of few other methods to store ribbon. The prettiest is keeping them in jars, arranged by colour. Allison Kimball even did a beautiful layout on her ribbon storage for the Creating Garden on 2peas. I will have to admit, that there is a certain allure in this method, given how beautiful it looks, however I think I would waste a lot of time looking for the right ribbon.
Another method for organizing small yardages of ribbon, albeit more expensive, is to use something like Cropper Hopper’s Embellishment Organizer Case. I hadn’t paid this method much attention until I saw this case in action when a member of 2peas posted it in her gallery. I love how neat and organized this looks.
Some people prefer buying ribbon by the roll, and this proves an entirely different organizational dilemma. Some people use a method of altering a photo box to hold their ribbon, which is great for small collections of ribbon, unless of course you alter quite a few boxes. Another way to organize a small collection of ribbon rolls is to put them on trouser hangers, preferably the multi-tier variety where the arms swing out, and then clip back into place. Simply load up every other rod with your rolls of ribbon, and you can cut as much as you need, as you need it. For larger collections, a multi-tier shelving unit (either over the door unit or mounted unit) might fit the bill, such as this unit by ClosetMaid.
Whatever method you choose, it should allow your ribbon to be viewable and easily accessible so you can spend you time scrapping rather than looking for ‘the perfect ribbon’.